John Cena has unveiled his choice for the best actor in WWE.

Cena has been making a smooth transition from the ring to Hollywood. Cena recently made a brief return to the WWE, losing to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in the main event of SummerSlam. Cena plans to make an appearance on the Sept. 10 episode of SmackDown, which will take place inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Speaking to Dan Patrick on That Scene, Cena explained why he looks at Vince McMahon as the best actor in WWE.

“Vince McMahon. This is his thing and he took it from being a regional thing to national and global. He gets it because he created it. The way he walks, the way he talks, his run as the Chairman in the middle of the Attitude Era, evil Vince, he’s made for it. And he gets it. Like he puts ego and self aside and goes out there and gives everything to it.”

John Cena went on to talk about why WWE has taken the wrestling industry and put their own spin on it with sports entertainment.

“I think it had something to do with, I say I think because it’s complete speculation if we were entertainment we could be in more places and do more things. And I think that’s why we admitted its entertainment. A lot of the mystique used to be around whether it was real or not, and that was twenty, thirty years ago. So we’re still going strong with a larger reach than ever. It just goes to show that people just want to be entertained, they just want a chance to escape.”

Several reports have come out as of late regarding Vince McMahon & Bruce Prichard playing a larger role in NXT. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, a meeting was held with talent and staff in NXT recently. Reports of McMahon and Prichard’s involvement were addressed.

“There was a meeting with talent and staff where they were told the stories of McMahon and Prichard directly producing the weekly television show is incorrect,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

The report continued to say that Prichard and McMahon are too busy to take on that role. Major decisions regarding the brand will now be made by upper WWE management, however. This includes the rebrand, roster cuts, and who gets pushed and/or protected.

“The new logo came from WWE with no input from the NXT people and it’s when it comes to the future of NXT and its rebranding, it’s said the people making the decision, on their own, are the likes of Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, John Laurinaitis, Kevin Dunn, and Bruce Prichard,” Meltzer continued.

It was also noted that there were many who had hoped changing to Tuesday nights would benefit NXT. That is not what has happened, however. Television ratings for the brand are averaging just under 650,000 viewers and a 0.16 over the last 10 weeks.

“Like with the cuts, all the major decisions as far as marketing, direction of the brand and promotion of the brand are all being made outside the NXT circle,” Meltzer continued.

It looks like the version of NXT as we know it is coming to an end.

During an edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez reported that sources within WWE have claimed that Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard will be in charge of the production of NXT. This is said to be taking effect on Sept. 14.

Here’s what Alvarez had to say.

“Anything is possible but I talked a while ago about how we’re gonna have a new NXT. It’s gonna be like the old NXT. I have heard from several people now that when they go back to live shows, this is going to be a Vince McMahon-Bruce Prichard production.”

PW Insider first reported that major changes would be made to the NXT brand. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio later followed up, confirming the brand would have a new look and overall feel. Meltzer also noted that WWE is putting greater focus on making NXT a developmental brand as it once was rather than a major third brand.

We’ve also seen reports claiming that WWE is turning away from signing independent talent. A follow-up update has claimed that WWE talent scouts will still give indie talent a look if they feel it’s worthwhile. With that said, the focus will be on larger-sized talent.

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon does not always see eye-to-eye with his top stars. CM Punk was no exception. Their personal relationship became so contentious that it became material for on-air storylines. It ultimately led to his departure from the company.

Punk is doing the media rounds this week to promote Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view, where he’ll debut against Darby Allin. During an appearance on Chicago’s 670 The Score on Tuesday, the Best in the World recalled his first big disagreement with his former boss.

“I was always going tell him the truth. I was always going to be honest.”

– CM Punk

CM Punk says the heated conversation took place at the end of 2006. The topic at hand was the creative plans for the infamous ECW December to Dismember event. He says this was the first time he was honest and truthful with Vince McMahon and feels it laid the groundwork for their relationship.

You can hear Punk recall the conversation in the player below:

CM Punk: Wrestling is Art

Punk covered a lot of topics during his appearance on 670 The Score, ranging from the origin story of the Cult of Personality to what brought him back to wrestling.

In the lead-up to his pro wrestling return, CM Punk stated several times that it would take more than a big paycheck to lure him back. For him, it was more about working with young talent and being part of compelling storylines.

To Punk, pro wrestling is an art form. He considers himself an artist and questions anyone who attempts to interpret his art.

“I’m not so much worried about what other people think of my art. It’s just my art & i’m here to use it as an expression of myself.”

– CM Punk

Listen to CM Punk’s comments about “wrestling is art” –

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was reportedly unhappy with the original Monday Night Raw plans yesterday.

The original Raw plans were advertised by WWE ahead of the show airing, including a non-title match between Bobby Lashley and Sheamus. However, McMahon decided to make adjustments to the show. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reports that McMahon was “extremely unhappy” with the original rundown.

“PWInsider.com was told by several that Vince McMahon, extremely unhappy with the original plans for Monday Night Raw, “ripped up the script” several times, including the original plans and then the initial rewrite,” said the report.

Johnson’s sources also said that “…McMahon then began requesting new ideas, some of which we are told were good, and others no so good, but rejected everything pitched to him before decreeing the new plans for last night’s episode. 

Creative issues with Vince McMahon

The report states that WWE made no official plan for the episode until 6 pm est. While it isn’t uncommon for WWE to change plans before a show, yesterday’s episode was challenging. The report called yesterday “…one of the “longest” days in a long time for the WWE Creative team.” Johnson also noted that “One source who went through the process described it as “the loudest and angriest” they’d ever seen McMahon on a show day.”

Monday Night Raw results

The main event of Raw featured the team of Bobby Lashley & MVP vs. RK-Bro for the Raw Tag Team Championships. RK-Bro successfully retained their title when Riddle pinned MVP. After the match, Lashley attacked Riddle with his spear move. However, Randy Orton landed an RKO on Lashley, and the show ended with RK-Bro posing with their titles.

Instead of facing Lashley, WWE had Sheamus compete in a triple threat match against Drew McIntyre and Damien Priest for the United States Championship. Priest successfully retained the U.S title after pinning McIntyre.

More results from yesterday’s Raw episode:

1. Rhea Ripley def. Shayna Baszler
2. Viking Raiders def. Jinder Mahal & Veer
3. Karrion Kross def. Humberto Carrillo via submission
4. Nia Jax def. Charlotte Flair
5. Omos def. John Morrison
6. AJ Styles def. Xavier Woods via submission

Vince McMahon was asked about WWE seeing AEW as competition during last week’s Q2 earnings call with investors. This is where he noted that he doesn’t see AEW in the same way that he did with WCW. 

AEW’s Chris Jericho spoke with Kenny McIntosh of Inside The Ropes and noted that McMahon was smart to say what he did because what else was he going to say. 

“We’re not worried about what WWE is and we haven’t been since day one,” Jericho said. “We weren’t worried about what NXT did. The whole time with the NXT vs. AEW war, which ended in a total abysmal failure for NXT, we never once had a TV screen watching what they were doing when we were doing it. 

Jericho stated that he thinks WWE is watching what the competition is doing, but AEW is just focused on what they’re doing and he thinks that’s one of the reasons why AEW has done so well.  He noted that AEW couldn’t control the fact that NXT was put up against Dynamite so they can only control what All Elite Wrestling is doing. 

“So WWE is not competition for us,” Jericho said. “We’re competition for ourselves. So for Vince to say that – to me, it’s probably reverse psychology and that he does see us as competition. But deep down inside, what does it really matter?”

Jericho stated that while WWE has billions of dollars locked in via TV deals right now, AEW is working towards that. 

“Now when our demo ends up beating theirs and TV deals start coming in for us at the billions, then I truly think there will be a lot of competition because now you’re fighting for money, you’re not just fighting for bragging rights – and bragging rights don’t mean anything.”

Jericho ended by stating that it’s the money that a company makes that counts. 

AEW has made some significant additions to its roster in recent times. The company has also been gaining in viewership but according to Vince McMahon, he doesn’t see them as competition. The WWE chairman took part in the Q2 2021 earnings call where he was asked about their rival promotion

Vince was asked whether he feels the need to counter AEW’s investments to their roster considering that the two companies could be competing for media rights in future or if it’s “rising tides lift all boats” kind of situation similar to how it was with WCW back in the day. Replying to it, the boss explained why the situation with WCW was different:

“Well, it certainly is not a situation where ‘rising tides’ because that was when Ted Turner was coming after us with all of Time Warner’s assets as well, that was a different situation. AEW is where they are. I don’t really know what their plans are; all I know is what our plans are. I don’t consider them competition in the way that I would consider WCW back in the day, not anywhere near close to that.

And I’m not so sure what their investments are as far as their talent is concerned, but perhaps we can give them some more.” said Vince McMahon.

New WWE President Nick Khan then made some additional comments and claimed that they look at these situations like a horse race. Khan explained that similar to how horses have blinders on during a race, they are looking straight ahead at their lane. The promotion’s focus is on making sure that they stay in the front of the pack:

“At the same time, everything is our competition. Someone had a line a couple of weeks ago, that we all chuckled at and agreed with – sleep is our competition. Right?

If it was up to us, people could be up 24 hours a day, watching content from different content providers, hopefully including ours. So, we don’t look at any organization particularly as competition, yet we see everything as competitive with what we’re trying to do, in terms of eyeballs.”

• WWE Announces “The United States of America vs Vince McMahon” TV Series

WWE is planning to return to Saudi Arabia this October for a pay-per-view event just as long as COVID-19 regulations allow for it.

Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian first reported the news on Monday. He noted that Thursday, October 21st was the targeted date. POST Wrestling’s John Pollock tweeted he had heard the same while Dave Meltzer confirmed the date. 

The name nor the location and venue of the show has yet to be revealed. WWE has also yet to confirm the show. 

WWE hasn’t held an event in the country since Super ShowDown in February 2020, which was headlined by Goldberg defeating “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship. Since 2018, WWE has held 5 total pay-per-view events in Saudi Arabia. 

In June 2019 at the Super Showdown event, WWE was slated to present a women’s match for the first time in the country as Alexa Bliss was set to take on Natalya, but that got nixed due to the local government. However, later that year, Natalya and Lacey Evans competed instead at Crown Jewel. 

After Crown Jewel, the infamous incident with a plane holding wrestlers, staff and other personnel stuck at the airport for several hours happened. 

After that event, WWE and the Saudi General Entertainment Authority signed a long-term partnership through 2027. That contract states WWE is obligated to hold two events per year in the country.

WWE has announced today a partnership with Blumhouse television that will see the creation of a limited scripted series titled, “The United States of America vs Vince McMahon.”

The series will focus on WWE during the 1990s and Vince’s trial for allegedly supplying anabolic steroids to WWE wrestlers. Vince was indicted, rejected a plea deal, and then went to trial. He was unanimously acquitted by a jury on all charges.

“In 1994, the U.S. government indicted McMahon for allegedly supplying anabolic steroids to WWE talent. McMahon, with his liberty at stake, two school-aged children at home and with WWE on the brink of bankruptcy, refused to take a plea deal,” a description of the project reads.

Kevin Dunn and Blumhouse Television President Chris McCumber were quoted in a press release.

“Jason, Chris, and their team at Blumhouse create amazing work and we look forward to delivering an inside look into one of the most pivotal moments in our company’s history,” said Kevin Dunn, WWE Executive Producer & Chief of Global Television Distribution.

“We have a dramatic, riveting saga – one that’s crazier than fiction – that will appeal to the cross-section of Blumhouse and WWE fans,” said McCumber. “To say I’m thrilled about collaborating again with WWE is an understatement.”

WWE is also working with Bill Simmons and the Ringer to produce a multi-part documentary series on McMahon for Netflix.

Several WWE executives cashed in on company stock earlier this week including Vince McMahon, “Triple H” Paul Levesque, and Stephanie McMahon-Levesque. 

WWE uploaded a new SEC filing to their corporate website that shows the sold shares of Class A Common Stock. 

The following trades were made earlier this week (July 20):

• Vince McMahon sold 17,465 shares at $48.68 for an approximate total of $850,196. The Chairman & CEO still has 72,265 shares.
• Paul Levesque sold 4,547 shares at $48.68 for an approximate total of $221,347. The Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development still has 45,465 shares.
• Stephanie Levesque sold 4,410 shares at $48.68 for an approximate total of $214,678. The Chief Brand Officer still has 77,712 shares.
• Kevin Dunn sold 14,404 shares at $48.68 for an approximate total of $701,186. The Executive Producer & Chief of Global Television Distribution still has 82,798 shares.
• Kristina Salen sold 1,233 shares at $48.68 for an approximate total of $60,022. The Chief Financial Officer still has 10,817 shares.
• Nick Khan sold 1,098 shares at $48.68 for an approximate total of $53,450. The President & Chief Revenue Officer still has 9,410 shares.
• Bradley Blum, Executive Vice President of Operations, sold 3,558 shares at $48.68 for an approximate total of $173,203. Blum still has 26,230 shares.

Next Thursday (July 29), WWE is expected to report earnings after the market closes. The report will be for the fiscal quarter ending Jun 2021.

WWE’s stock has been trading around $49 per share this week.

Comedian Donnell Rawlings recently posted a photo of himself with Vince McMahon from a show he did with Dave Chappelle. Triple H recently spoke to the NY Post about attending Chappelle’s comedy show along with his father-in-law.

“We all find Dave Chappelle, much like the rest of the world, I think, as incredibly entertaining and funny and we’re big fans,” Triple H said. “And there was a rare opportunity where he was going to be in town, we all had an opportunity to have a few moments where we weren’t going to be working for a minute and we could also go see him. It sort of kind of was one of those things where we all went to each other at the same time — ‘Hey, I saw Chappelle is going to be doing some shows.’”

Triple H continued to say that Vince McMahon is just a normal guy but also very private. He said that when Vince does something like goes to a concert, attends a show etc. that he rarely posts photos from it.

“He’s a normal human being,” Triple H continued. “The persona that people have placed upon him is funny, but he’s also very private, too. Often when he does do things, when he goes to a concert or he goes to things you don’t often see photos from it. In fact, we took pictures with a lot of people that night and that was the one photo that came out. I was kind of surprised myself.”

JTG mentioned on the Bump last year that Vince is a fan of Chappelle’s. He said that Chappelle Show influenced some of Cryme Tyme’s skits and segments in Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Vince McMahon is reported to have visited the WWE Performance Center this week. He was joined by company President Nick Khan, Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis, and WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard. According to a report from PW Insider, the group met with staff and coaches in addition to watching in-ring sessions.

Sources have stated that McMahon’s visit was actually a positive experience. Some described it as “a breath of fresh air” compared to what they were worried might occur.

WWE Looking For More Writers

Elsewhere in WWE, the company has listed several job opportunities on its corporate website. Amongst those openings are jobs on the writing and creative teams. Amongst the key qualifications WWE has listed for the position is “Understanding of WWE’s audience (demographic and psychographic) a plus but not required.”

This job listing comes on the heels of a writer being released after admitting on a podcast that she was not familiar with the product.

“So I am on the Monday Night Raw team. So there’s Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown and the people I know that are on it are Bobby — his name is either Bobby Ashley or Bobby Lashley and I really should know that,” the writer said on the Asian Not Asian podcast. “He’s like this giant Black guy and he and the people who are part of his crew, I know that they call — or at least as of last year, they called themselves The Hurt Business. The Hurt Business. They wear suits and they’re like, ‘We’re cool.’”

Vince McMahon is headed to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to scout talent. 

WWE’s Chairman and CEO will be there to visit this week, according to a report at Fightful. Thursday is the most likely date for McMahon’s visit. This is part of a major scouting effort to replenish the main roster with NXT talent. 

WWE has cut various wrestlers over the last few months in addition to having repetitive matches on TV and it appears the company feels like they need some new faces on the main roster. In recent weeks, other top executives that have been at the Performance Center such as Bruce Prichard and John Laurinaitis to scout talent.

• Samoa Joe Scouting Talent For WWE, Wants To Wrestle Again

NXT talent has been backstage at Raw and SmackDown shows to wrestle dark matches and evaluations by WWE officials. NXT Champion Karrion Kross and NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed competed in matches that were taped for WWE Main Event last week. 

Scarlett, who has been Kross’s manager on NXT, wasn’t with him for his dark matches, but she competed in a dark match against Shotzi Blackheart, who is a former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion with Ember Moon, at last Friday’s SmackDown. 

Kross, Scarlett, and Blackheart are all backstage at Monday’s Raw to work matches. The belief is WWE is trying out these wrestlers to see if they want to call-up the NXT stars to the main roster when the Draft takes place after SummerSlam.

• Next WWE Draft Scheduled To Take Place After SummerSlam

WWE SmackDown Superstar Carmella recently appeared on the Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin. ‘Mella discussed a number of topics on the show, specifically her two Money In The Bank briefcase wins, including in the first ever MITB Women’s match in history.

“I was super excited. At that point in my career, I had never won a title and thought it was something that would solidify me as making history” Carmella began, discussing how she won the first ever Women’s MITB match.

“Even though I wasn’t the one grabbing the briefcase and I knew that would be very controversial, but I thought even better that it’s controversial because people would be talking about it” Carmella revealed. “It was trending on Twitter for a few days because people were so upset.”

Carmella on Vince McMahon

In the first ever MITB match for the Women’s division, Carmella was joined ringside by James Ellsworth. Ellsworth would actually grab the briefcase and throw it to Carmella, meaning that the first person to ever grab the Women’s briefcase…was a man.

Carmella would then reveal that Vince McMahon was quick to praise her once she started cutting promos following her big MITB win. “The SmackDown after winning, I cut a promo and I going out there and going, ‘This is my opportunity. Let me go out there and kill it.’”

“I came back through the curtain and Vince was so complimentary to me about my promo that night and was like, ‘Some of my top guys can’t even cut a promo like that’” Carmella revealed. “So I was just so excited and it ended up hat I won it again. I think it really propelled my career.”

Top WWE officials including Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and others have been named in a new lawsuit filed against the company for allegedly selling shares at inflated prices. The lawsuit claims that the company executives sold more than $300 million worth of stock while keeping the public in the dark about the collapse of their broadcasting deal in the Middle East.

McMahon and others are accused of telling investors that the promotion was set to renew their broadcasting agreement with Orbit Showcase Network in Riyadh.

OSN shut down all their sports channels back in March 2019 and left sports broadcasting. The lawsuit alleges that the company knew about this change and they also misled investors about the chances of finding a replacement deal once the network was out.

Vince McMahon sold a total of 3.5 million shares worth more than $280 million and other exes sold stock worth more than $30 million allegedly based on “non-public information regarding the company’s key contracts, business metrics, and financial prospects” in the middle eastern region.

The complaint mentions that WWE’s stock prices fell down from $62 to $44.50 a share when the truth about the company’s ‘rapidly deteriorating’ business in the Middle East emerged.

• WWE Planning Next Saudi Arabia Show For Later This Year

The plaintiff is seeking ‘punitive and actual damages, costs, and fees’ in this lawsuit filed against the top company officials. The cause of action is listed as “breach of fiduciary duty; unjust enrichment; aiding and abetting.”

This isn’t the first instance of the company being sued over their dealings in the country. They previously settled a lawsuit for $39 million regarding their relationship with Saudi Arabia in November 2020.

You can check out the new lawsuit here.

Vince McMahon is a man who likes to be in control. The strength of his grip on all things WWE is well known and documented. Despite many different rumours swirling right now, Vince is still very much in control of things.

In a new turn of events, Vince McMahon has decreed that a new rule be imposed on each and every match shown on television.

According to Ringside News Mr McMahon has issued a ban on all cold matches. Every single match now needs to have a reason for being. Nothing will occur just for the sake of a seeing two wrestlers compete head-to-head.

This new ruling explains why Jeff Hardy’s career was suddenly on the line in his recent match with Cedric Alexander. This ruling is an interesting one. However, given WWE’s creative issues in recent years can they rise to the occasion? Will we be seeing a random run of matches with non-sensical stipulations, or will this be a change in storytelling? Time will tell. The Ringside News source specified that the point behind the matches should all form part of a larger storyline.

WWE have the athletes, and they have the fan base. However, it is the creative side that many believe let the shows and the company down. A rule like this allows the creative side of the business to set a base from which it can grow.

However, Vince McMahon changes his mind with alarming regularity. Therefore, there is a chance that this will not be around long enough to come to fruition.

WWE has added a clause in the contracts they have with wrestlers. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that talent no longer under contract are not allowed to use their WWE character names when signing autographs. 

Before this clause, WWE just prevented released wrestlers from using their character names at shows, and rightfully so as WWE owns the trademark rights to certain ring names. 

With this new clause, released performers won’t be able to capitalize on their persona under the ring name they went by WWE. As an example, Adam Scherr won’t be able to use the name “Braun Strowman” when he signs things at conventions or independent wrestling shows. 

It should be noted that All Elite Wrestling doesn’t have this clause in their deals. As a result, wrestlers working there are able to sign things under the names they are using if they should depart from the promotion. 

The big difference between WWE and AEW is WWE typically likes to come up with different ring names for talent so they can own the trademark rights to while AEW usually uses the names of the wrestlers that they’ve used before coming to the promotion.

WWE Hall of Famer and Olympic Gold Medallist Kurt Angle recently discussed a horrific groin injury he suffered whilst in WWE back in the mid 2000s. The former TNA World Heavyweight Champion discussed the injury during the latest episode of The Kurt Angle Show.

“The hardest part was the injuries, I just couldn’t keep myself together,” Angle began on the podcast, talking about his mindset back in that time period. “That’s the main reason I even left WWE in 2006, I just couldn’t keep my body together.”

“My hamstring, my groin, my abdominal, my shoulder, my neck, I was falling apart and I was having a really difficult time and the painkiller issue wasn’t getting any better” Angle continued, describing just how broken down he was even 10+ years before he even retired proper.

“I said before, I started lashing out at Vince” Angle revealed. “Vince was ignoring me which made me even more angrier and I would leave him threatening messages on his answering machine on his cellphone. It just got so far out of control that eventually I had to go to Vince. [I had to] say ‘we need to have a talk.’”

Kurt Angle on Horrific Injuries

Kurt Angle would then reveal that he once had to physically show McMahon his groin injuries, just to get the WWE Chairman to fully appreciate the situation he was in. “I just came from an event and I went to a meeting and I pulled my pants down; it was a production meeting, Vince was in the front and everybody else was in the back.”

“I walked in between them and pulled my pants down to my ankles and I showed Vince my groin” Angle added. “It was all black and blue, I mean my penis, everything was black from the injury. It was an abdominal tear, a groin tear and a hamstring tear, all three in the same time and all the blood just rushed to my leg and my groin” Angle noted, revealing the extent of the injury.

“I said ‘We need to talk,’ Angle continued. “[Vince said] ‘Well let’s go in my office,’ I said ‘No, I need to meet you up at the headquarters this week, I want you to set me up a flight and bring me up because we need to have a personal discussion about what’s going on.’ That’s when I decided I was mostly likely going to leave the company” Angle would conclude.

Vince McMahon reportedly nixed Pat McAfee’s segment from the throwback episode of SmackDown because he thought the commentator’s impression of the boss “looked stupid.”

According to reports from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the segment was cut from the broadcast by the chairman himself because of several reasons.

Per Vince, McAfee didn’t sound or look like a young version of himself and it looked stupid. Mr McMahon believed that the portyal was comical in the wrong way and felt like a parody of the parody.

Though the report notes that Vince McMahon wasn’t against the segment itself. He was open to the idea of his portrayal on the episode and he just felt the former football star’s impression was not what he was looking for.

For those who don’t know, WWE held a special throwback edition of SmackDown last week which featured retro graphics and details throughout the broadcast.

• Pat McAfee Comments On Unaired Smackdown Scene

Pat McAfee put out a skit portraying a young Vince McMahon ahead of the show. He later revealed on his podcast that the cosplay was supposed to be featured on the broadcast as well but the idea was nixed before the episode.

McAfee revealed that he shaved his beard for the portrayal of the character on the suggestion of Michael Cole. He had even filmed some segments in the character which were not used.

Former WWE personality and on-air host/interviewer Renee Paquette recently revealed that she reached out to Vince McMahon. Paquette said that she wanted to get the WWE CEO on her Oral Sessions podcast, but up to now he has ‘ignored’ her requests.

“No, he [Vince McMahon] did not get back to me” Renee Paquette revealed on the latest episode of Oral Sessions. “No response but I do have his email. I can get his phone number.”

“I kind of pushed pause on that a little bit because I’ve been busy” Paquette noted. “We’ve had so many great guests, but I would love to have any McMahon on the show. Any McMahon is welcome on my show.”

Renee Paquette on Vince McMahon

“I guess I would just talk to him about some of the visions that he has for things and just being able to pick his brain” Paquette revealed, saying what an interview with the WWE owner would involve.

“I mean, being able to sit in production meetings with him for a year plus, and getting to just see how his mind works and trying to understand how his mind works, I think I would just have a lot of questions about how he runs the shows” Paquette concluded.

Check out our recent interview with Renee Paquette below:

An interesting casting call recently went out from Filmmakers Studio for a project based on the life of Vince McMahon. It does not appear as though WWE has any involvement in the project.

The full title of the project is “No Chance: The Vince McMahon Story and The Rise of the New Wrestling World Order.” It appears as though this will be a documentary. The casting is for the role of “host.”

A description of the project is below:

“It was his art of the hustle that led him to raging war on the top territories (AWA, Jim Crocket Promotions, WCCW Mid-South, and many others) and stunting their growth by raiding all of their top talent . It was his novel and bold approach to pitch the Super Bowl of Wrestling Shows , ‘WrestleMania’ into the Pay-Per View stratosphere that wrestling would forever be changed forever.”

“This isn’t a movie but a review retrospective that will dig deep in learning not only about Vince McMahon’s adversaries but how he outsmarted them all in associating USA Pro Wrestling with the World Wrestling Federation. Learn more about other noteworthy promoters who dared tried to oppose the Young Conqueror in which we will focus on each territories noteworthy plays and embarrassing mistakes made on their wrestling shows.”

Mick Foley has been a big supporter of women’s wrestling for years and is now making the call to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon to make something special for the women’s division. 

The WWE Hall of Famer took to Twitter to send a message to his former boss, which is to create an all-women’s brand in WWE. He also added some possible bragging rights to it as he mentioned that if McMahon doesn’t then AEW could beat him to it. 

The Hardcore Legend wrote, “Dear Vince, An all women’s brand NEEDS to happen in @WWE Unless you want @AEW to beat you to the punch. Sincerely, Mick @VinceMcMahon.”

It should be noted that there’s been no talk of WWE creating an all-women’s brand, but perhaps, this suggestion made by the former WWE Champion could lead to it becoming a reality. 

The closest thing to what Foley is pitching was the WWE Evolution pay-per-view, which was the first-ever women’s event under the WWE banner back on October 28, 2018, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in Uniondale, New York.

WWE hasn’t held a second show like this since but various stars including Sasha Banks have expressed support for WWE to do so.

WWE Superstar Damian Priest recently spoke to Graham Matthews of Fansided. The RAW Superstar discussed a number of topics during the interview, including his angle with Bad Bunny and the impressive debut the Latin artist had at WrestleMania 37.

“We talked about [a potential return] before and after,” Priest began, saying how Bad Bunny feels regarding a WWE in-ring return. “There’s no question that we’ll see Bad Bunny in a WWE ring again. When? I don’t know.”

“He’s really busy, he’s going to start touring again soon” Damian Priest added. “That’s a wild schedule he has to prepare for. But I’d be shocked if we never saw him again. It’s impossible.”

Damian Priest on Bad Bunny

“The love he has for this business and now the love this business has for him, there’s no way I don’t see him coming back” Priest concluded.

Damian Priest finished the interview by saying how Vince McMahon reacted to his own performance at WrestleMania 37. “I made sure to do what he wanted and he told me, ‘I gave you direction last week and this week you implemented it and you did exactly what I wanted you to do. That’s all I ask for. Thank you.’”

“I said, ‘No, thank you.’ That was it” Priest revealed. “At WrestleMania, he gave me a hug and said, ‘Congratulations, I’m happy for you. You did your job well. You should be proud.’”

Would you like to see Bad Bunny back in a WWE ring? Let us know in the comments

This past weekend, a new WWE show premiered on A&E titled, “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures.” Hosts Triple H and Stephanie McMahon scour the globe for lost pieces of pro wrestling memorabilia, such as Ric Flair’s iconic robes, Kane’s mask, etc. The recovered items are being brought back to a WWE warehouse, but they might eventually be part of a physical WWE Hall of Fame building.

WWE has considered a physical Hall of Fame at different times over the years, but it’s never come to fruition. The Most Wanted Treasures show has revived interest in the topic, which led to some commentary by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

According to Meltzer, the reason WWE never pulled the trigger on a physical Hall of Fame is because Vince McMahon has always felt it’s a waste of money. Triple H has reportedly been pushing for a Hall of Fame building for nearly a decade, but McMahon has always vetoed the idea.

The company has a spotty track record when it comes to real estate. The WWF New York restaurant in Times Square was short-lived. The company’s Las Vegas hotel and casino concept never got off the ground.

There were talks about bringing the WWE Hall of Fame to Universal City Walk in Orlando, Florida, but that fell apart in 2016. For now, the best place for wrestling fans to see WWE memorabilia is the Axxess Fan Fest that is held during WrestleMania weekends.

The Plane Ride From Hell is one of the most infamous stories in wrestling history. The event took place as the WWE roster was returning from a European tour on May 5th, 2002. One of the many stories to come from this commute was Vince McMahon deciding he wanted to wrestle the Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle.

On the latest episode of his Kurt Angle Show podcast, Angle recalls the Plane Ride from Hell as being the ‘longest night of his life.’ There was a lot of rowdiness on board, but things got dangerous when Angle and McMahon were wrestling near the door of the airplane.

“The thing was, I was on the plane and Vince had a few glasses of wine in him,” Angle began. “He was feeling frisky and thought if I’m gonna wrestle someone that’s the best, might as well wrestle an Olympic Gold Medalist. You have to understand, Vince is the type of guy who would say to Mike Tyson, ‘Knock me out. Go ahead, hit me in the face. I want to feel what it’s like.’ He wants to feel what it’s like to be with the best person. I totally get it, but Vince is crazy.”

Angle further explained McMahon’s affinity for roughhousing. He’s an alpha male and wants to test himself by mixing it up with the best athletes in the world.

“He would have somebody come get me and he’d jump me from behind and we’d wrestle. We did this for five hours. We’d wrestle for a few minutes, and I’d hold him down and say, ‘Are you good?’ He’d say, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’re good.’ I’d go back and lay down and he’d jump on me again. It went for five hours, and it just became very irritating.”

“Tell the pilot to go…”

While some would expect the boss to assume control of the situation, it sounds like McMahon was as much to blame for things getting out of hand than anybody.

“The crazy thing, there were wine stains all over the floor – there’s white carpet and wine stains everywhere,” Angle said. “Vince and I were wrestling near the door, and there’s the latch. You open the latch and the door is open and you fly out of the plane. We kept hitting the latch while we were wrestling, so the flight attendant came and said, ‘The pilot said if you don’t sit down and stop, he’s gonna land this plane right now.’ Vince says, ‘Go tell the pilot to fuck himself. I’ll buy the fucking plane.’

“Here we are wrestling on the plane and we’re getting ready to land and they finally get Vince to calm down. Jericho is sitting in front of me and he says look who’s coming up the aisle. While we’re hitting the ground landing, Vince is army crawling up the aisle to jump on me again. I’m like, ‘Holy shit, this is the night that will never end.’ It was a frickin’ nightmare.”

This infamous trip will be covered in Season 3 of Dark Side of the Ring.